Shifting Waters
by eliatropesonmobius
Summary: A collection of AUs in a series of one-shots. All featuring the Lost Empire of Atlantis.


**This is mostly going to be a series of one-shots based on Hetalia's many, many, many different AUs. Seriously, it's ridiculous how many I've uncovered on Pinterest alone. Almost scary.**

Chapter 1:

Mertalia

The water churns as the shadows of tails flicker over the ocean floor. The tails are longer than those of normal sea creatures, or at least the ones that humanity knows of. Indeed, the upper halves of the creatures do not resemble those they share the sea with, but rather their brethren on land. These creatures are called mermaids, or mermen, and reside in the deepest parts of the sea in general harmony. Their capital is the sunken island nation of Atlantis.

Currently, there is a storm raging above, but the mermaids pay no heed. Instead, they travel in groups for the annual party that celebrates the day their current king, a man with brown hair and violet scales named Roma, was crowned. His royal advisor, a mermaid by the name of Lyra that has long curly blonde hair and pale blue scales, is currently trying to get his two grandsons ready. Veneciano, an excitable merman with auburn hair and pale green scales, is currently trying to tame his one curl that won't stay down. Romano, a merman with attitude problems, auburn hair, and fiery-red scales, is currently snacking on some seaweed pasta.

"If you keep eating that stuff, Romano, you won't get any food at the banquet." Lyra warns, straightening the gold circlet on his head. He bats her hands away even as Veneciano begins to laugh.

"Maybe he's nervous and stress-eating."

"Screw you! I'm just hungry!" Lyra rolls her eyes and uses some oil to try and tame his curl.

"We have several important nobles coming, and a few unimportant ones, so I'd prefer it if you didn't cuss anyone out, or else I'll get angry." Romano nods sullenly, not wanting to make the pretty mermaid angry. They were still trying to fix that section of the wall. "Veneciano, how does my dress look?" She twirls, showing off her blue silk dress that comes to halfway down her fin, and is the same shade as her scales.

"You look lovely as always, Lyra. We should hurry if we don't want to be late."

"Indeed." Lyra goes to the door of the chamber and opens it, shooing the two princes out before shutting the door and following.

In the throne room, King Roma pours his first glass of wine for the day when a dainty hand shoots out of nowhere and snatches the glass away.

"Not so early in the morning, Roma. You want to be sober when the nobles come so you don't embarrass yourself, correct?" Lyra appears from behind his throne and sets the glass on a tray before handing the tray to a passing servant and telling them to keep any and all alcohol away from the king.

"Not as much as I'd rather be raging drunk." He complains, watching the tray of wine disappear sadly. Veneziano and Romano appear and bow to their grandfather before he scoops them into a hug. "My two grandsons look so grown-up!"

"That's because we are, you-" Romano is cut off when he catches the glare Lyra is shooting him, and he gulps. "Your majesty…"

"You can call me Grandpa, Romano!"

"At least until the nobles arrive, Roma. You must be ready to greet them, as we don't want a repeat of last year's incident."

"We certainly don't." Roma swam off his throne, a business-like look coming over his face. "Fine, Lyra, I shall greet them. Are all the preparations ready?"

"As ready as possible, sire. Everything is in order for tonight's feast. The only problem is a human vessel about ten miles out. Should we sink it?"

"Not unless they're threatening us. But only then."

"Yes, sire." she bows just as a servant swims in and tells them the nobles have arrived. Lyra goes to let them in. The first one is from the Arctic and is a sweetheart of a man named Tino with light blond hair and even lighter blue scales. Lyra smiles and pulls him in for a hug.

"Hello, Tino. How are the fish running in the cold North?"

"As well as they can, I suppose. Mathias and I've been dealing with some overfishing and pollution, but we're doing fine." Mathias is Tino's big brother, a boisterous merman with red and white scales.

"Speaking of which, where is your brother?" A pair of arms wrap around Lyra's waist suddenly and lift her high as a laugh echoes in her ear. "Nevermind, found him."

"Lyra! Did ya miss us?"

"Like a plague. Let me go, you guppy." The arms release her and she turns to ruffle Mathias' hair. "Good to see you. Now, go set your stuff down in the guest room assigned to you and I'll see you at dinner." The two brothers swim off as Lyra turns to the next set of nobles, a trio of brothers from the Asian Sea. She presses her palms together and bows to the three. "Welcome. How was your trip?" Yao, the oldest of the three, returns the bow.

"It was excellent. We were very excited to return and see our friends once again."

"As we were to see you. Hello, Kiku. Leon." The other two brothers bow and Leon shoots her a grin, which she returns. "Please enjoy your stay."

"Thank you." The three swim off and Lyra's smile grows when she sees the next pair of mermen coming to greet her. Their names are Alfred and Matthew, brothers from the Gulf of Mexico. Lyra and Matthew have been good friends for awhile, and she's always excited when they visit.

"Hello, boys." The brothers swim up and wrap her in a bear hug, one that she doesn't fight. Not only did she miss her friends, but they're both ridiculously strong.

"Yo, Lyra!" Alfred releases her with a grin. "You didn't miss me too much, did you?"

"More like just the right amount. Good to see you two. How are the fish running back home?"

"There have been a couple of oil spills." Matthew says quietly, closely followed by his pet lionfish, Kumajiro. "But the fish are bountiful as always, so no need to worry."

"Those humans, I swear. That reminds me." Lyra summons a servant and asks him how close the human ship has gotten. He tells her it's less than five miles away and she swears quietly.

"Is something the matter, Lyra?" Matthew asks, noticing her smile has faded.

"No, Matthew. Why don't you and Alfred go put your things in your rooms? It's almost time for the main party." The brothers nod and leave as Lyra greets the final noble: A woman by the name of Elizabeta famous for her fighting skills with a skillet.

"Hello, Lizzie." Lyra hugs her friend and groans when the woman returns the hug with enough force to pop a few vertebrae in her back.

"Hello, Lyra! I'm happy to see you!"

"And I you, Lizzie. Why don't you go to your room, then join the others for dinner?" The mermaid nods and swims off. Lyra sighs quietly before going to find the king.

She finds Roma sitting with his two grandsons at the main banquet table, chatting happily with the other nobles who've joined them and begun eating. Lyra requests the king's presence formally before grabbing his elbow and dragging him into an empty room.

"The human ship has gotten closer. They still appear to be docile, but I worry, Roma."

"You must relax, Lyra. I am sure nothing bad will happen." Roma rejoins the table as Lyra crosses her arms and glares at the wall.

"Said the minnow as it tried to swim with the sharks." Then she leaves the room to grab a plate of food herself, hoping to settle her nerves by filling her stomach.

Lyra sits on Feliciano's right, between him and Matthew. While everyone else is chatting away happily and gorging on the best food available in the kingdom, Lyra receives constant reports on the ship's status, each of which makes her feel more sick with worry than the last. Finally, she gives up trying to eat, instead sipping her wine and praying to whoever she believes in that her home will be safe. The final report never comes, which sets alarm bells ringing in her head. Lyra leaves the dining hall, slipping on armor in the barracks before waiting outside the palace gates, eyes cast towards the ocean's surface and the boat that sits up there.

She's almost relaxed when at least an hour has passed of her keeping watch, and she prepares to head back inside, when she sees black figures slip through the edge of her vision. Baring her teeth, sharpened like all merpeoples' from years of the primitive merpeople fighting sharks for food, she sends a fellow soldier inside to warn the king and draws her sword, metal gleaming in the water and making her look more regal than war-like. However, her regality doesn't help her when a tiny dart flies through the air and pierces her neck. Growling wildly, she raises her sword and swims towards the dart's source, forcing one of the black figures from its hiding place. As soon as she catches a glimpse of the creature's bipedal legs, her bared teeth stretch in a wild yell.

"Human! How dare you! Entering the realm where we have escaped your influence!" The drug that laces the dart begins to affect her, darkening her vision and reaction time. The human manages to swim away and the next thing she hears are yells coming from inside the palace. Lyra almost passes out when her body makes a final surge against the drug, letting her see, though it's as if someone has placed a black veil on her head that obscures her vision. She swims back into the palace and the dining hall, growls still rumbling from her throat. Several humans have breached the palace and shot the nobles and king with the sedative she now knows she was shot with. The humans attach metal chains to the unconscious merpeople's necks and begin tugging them to the surface through a hole in the roof. Lyra lowers her spear at a nearby human and lets it fly through the water. Though drugs have begun to slow her thinking and reaction times, her aim is still true. The spear creates a gash in the human's side that he cups a hand over with a yell and several curses. Lyra laughs even as a few other humans pin her and attach a chain to her neck as well. And finally the sea's brightness no longer registers with Lyra as her eyes droop closed.

On the surface, crew members of the SS Gaea dash about, preparing to set sail back for home. Below deck, their prey sleep in salt water isolation tanks. Captain Wolfgang stands with his three grandsons in the main HQ.

"Another score for science today, boys! As soon as we return to the laboratory, we'll start running tests." Gilbert, the eldest yet most immature grandson chuckles.

"Right, Vati. Then let's get sailing."

"Indeed." Ludwig, the youngest, and Roderich, the middle child, nod in agreement before setting off to do their jobs and get the Gaea speeding through the water. Other crew members rush around, all aware of the preciousness of their capture, but none aware of the fury of one that sleeps. But they will soon learn to regret crossing the sea-dwellers. Or maybe some kind of harmony will be born of such a terrible event. Only time will tell.

 **Well, this was fun! It was also an excuse to take a break from The Watery Depths, an actual sequel instead of just a bunch of one-shots. If you want me to continue this, let me know. If you have a different AU in mind, pleeease let me know. I'll probably be doing cardverse next...Wish me luck.**

 **Signing off, as always,**

 **EOM**

 **PS. Did you miss me?!**


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